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Trump To Face Historic Second Impeachment Trial This Week; Study Shows More Contagious COVID Variant Spreading Rapidly In U.S.; More Than 20 Women Arrested For Role In Capitol Riot. Aired 6-6:30p ET

Aired February 07, 2021 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. It's great to have you with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

Conviction or acquittal, whichever is decided at the end Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial, it will be a milestone in American history. A U.S. president impeached twice and tried twice. That extraordinary second trial all set to begin on Tuesday in the U.S. Senate floor. The one charge leveled against the ex-president that he incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. What the trial will look like exactly, witnesses and subpoenas, that's not known yet. How long it will take, not known.

The other big question, how many Republicans are willing to side with Democrats on conviction?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, MSNBC HOST: do you think the outcome is predetermined here?

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): You I interpret --

TODD: Yes.

CASSIDY: You know, I -- everybody -- no, I don't. I think it depends upon that which is presented.

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): I think it's clearly constitutional to conduct a Senate trial with respect to an impeachment, in this case the impeachment occurred prior to the president's leaving office. But my job is going to be to listen to both sides of this, evaluate the arguments and make a decision.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Zero chance of conviction, 45 Republicans have said it's not even a legitimate proceeding. So it's really over before it starts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: to Capitol Hill now and our Senior Washington Correspondent Joe Johns. Joe, we're hearing two things there from Republican senators, one that the trial is over before it starts but also that there are still some open minds. Which is the more common attitude in the Senate right now?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think the most common attitude in the Senate is that Republicans don't really like the idea of convicting the former president. You do have people who are saying the sort of typical things, they want to reserve judgment until all of the evidence is in, they see themselves as sort of members of a jury.

But, yes, behind the scenes there's a lot more of that sentiment that we don't want to vote against this president in large part, of course, because he has so much support out in the country. We've seen that again and again. That, though, sort of goes against some of the polling we've seen over the weekend. A poll came out from ABC suggesting something like 56 percent of respondents say Trump should be convicted and barred from holding office. But it's not respondents of a poll who are going to end up deciding this. Of course, it's the members of the United States Senate.

And even some of those who now have a bit more nuanced opinion of the whole situation also looking past the trial, like Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a big supporter of Donald Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST: You still believe President Trump is the best face for the Republican Party, yes or no?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I think he's -- I think he's the -- yes. Well, I think, yes. I think Donald Trump's policies served the country well. I think Donald Trump has to rehabilitate himself as a politician.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Meanwhile, as you know, the leadership watch continues here on Capitol Hill. All eyes on Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer sort of waiting for them to put out the parameters, the rules for this trial to go forward now, just starting on Tuesday, including whether there will be witnesses, if there will be a lot of time for the managers and the attorneys for the former president to make their case before the United States Senate, giving us some idea of just how long they think this trial is going to be, Ana.

CABRERA: Joe Johns on Capitol Hill, many thanks.

And now to David Gergen, CNN Senior Political Analyst and former adviser to four presidents.

David, over the last week or so, we have seen how much the Republican Party still belongs to Trump. That's without him rehabilitating his image, like Senator Graham has suggested. He's no longer president. He's off Twitter. He's done some things clearly the party doesn't want to have attached to them. Why does he need rehabilitate his image? Why does the party need Trump?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The party doesn't need Trump, but he needs to rehabilitate his image, nonetheless. I think the winds are finally starting to blow the other on this impeachment. And that is, for the first time, we're seeing some real push back from the rest of the country saying they would to see -- they do favor conviction. We haven't been seeing much of that before, the polls that Joe Johns was just talking about.

So I don't think the Democrats -- the prosecutors can win in a court of law. I think they're still short of the votes. But they still can win and they can achieve great gains against the Democrats in the court of public opinion. And that's why I think the trial remains an important part of our political landscape.

[18:05:01]

It is a chance for the Democrats to make the case once and for all that there was no fraud, that Joe Biden was legitimately elected and the people who tried to steal this election are the ones who assaulted the Capitol.

And I think if the Democrats can win that argument, it would make an enormous difference for President Biden going forward to govern more, I think, decisively.

CABRERA: Congresswoman Liz Cheney who was censured this weekend by her state Republican Party because she voted to impeach Trump. She defended that vote today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): The fact that he was impeached in a bipartisan fashion, the fact that he lost the presidency, the fact that we lost the Senate, we have to be in a position where we can say we stand for principles, we stand for ideals. Somebody who has provoked an attack on the United States Capitol to prevent the counting of electoral votes, which resulted in five people dying, who refused to stand up immediately when he was asked and stop the violence, that is a person who does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Liz Cheney has faced more political consequences than Donald Trump since the insurrection. That tells you a lot about the state of the GOP, right? Can the Republican Party that you know survive this?

GERGEN: I think it can survive, but I think it's been damaged. And, again, I think Liz Cheney standing up in a way she has, if John F. Kennedy were alive today and adding a profiles in courage chapter in his book, she would be right there, because it was tough for her to do.

To go to your larger point, Ana, about the Republican Party, I think we have seen underscored here in the last couple of days just how far the Republican Party is lost in these moorings. It's often in fantasy land, in Looney Tune land.

Because, look, here -- look, we've gone from Dick Cheney, her father, who served honorably for ten years in the House to now, you know, a censure back in Wyoming of Liz Cheney for doing this. We've gone from -- and this -- Wyoming is also the state where Alan Simpson was a wonderful senator for so long, became a good friend of Joe Biden's. But he was a Republican and had a lot of support in the state of Wyoming.

Now, Ben Sasse is on the griddle in Nebraska as a Republican. That's the same state where Chuck Hagel just served in the Senate. Chuck Hagel, the Republican who went to work at the defense department for a Democratic president. So look at how the spirit has changed.

One last point I would still like to make, and that is about George Shultz, (INAUDIBLE). If you think about the day when he was in there in the government, he served in four cabinet positions, he worked across the aisle, he came out and he's worked hard on climate change, for a carbon neutral tax, he has stood for opening up more opportunities for blacks and others. He's just -- he's a wonderful statesman and look how far -- George Shultz would be appalled by what he's seeing now in his party and he died today at 100. Bless him.

CABRERA: Yes. I'm glad you mentioned him. I was actually going to ask you about him and his legacy as well in this interview. But you beat me to the punch there for our viewers who may not be following it as closely. I mean, he served in multiple Republican administrations, including Nixon and Reagan.

GERGEN: Yes, Marine in World War II.

CABRERA: Yes. And he was awarded the -- I think it was the Medal of Freedom or the --

GERGEN: Yes.

CABRERA: -- the Honor of Freedom.

Let me ask you about what we're hearing from Joe Biden, the current president today. He just gave an interview ahead of the Super Bowl, where he criticized his predecessor's handling of the pandemic. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the disappointments was when we came into office is the circumstance relating to how the administration was handling COVID was even more dire than we thought.

NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS NEWS HOST: The Trump administration?

BIDEN: The Trump administration. We thought that it indicated there was a lot more vaccine available and I didn't turn out to be the case. So that's why we've ramped up every way we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: Now, this was an interview that aired pre-Super Bowl, Huge audience for the president, something every president has done every year since 2004, except in 2018, when Trump declined. How did Biden do?

GERGEN: I thought he did fine. I think -- as a general proposition, Ana, I think he's set a good tone for the country. He has not been bombastic. He has not been aggressive. He's been measured. He's been thoughtful. He's not trying to tear up the airwaves and he's not trying to make every day a story about Joe Biden on the weekend he goes back to his old home in Delaware and sort of keeps a low profile generally until tonight's football game.

So I think, overall, there's a reason that Joe Biden's numbers -- his approval numbers are in the 60s and that's because the tone he's setting and the fact he's really trying hard to get this COVID thing turned around.

[18:10:01]

But I think the contrast with Trump is so stark and it's so -- people haven't lost their anxiety because Trump is still around. They feel this isn't all settled yet and they're not sure.

I mean, Trump -- Biden has got a very good point. They thought all of this vaccine was going to be available. The rollout has been horrible for a lot of people in this country. There's so many people hurting and not able to get these shots and disappointed in the government. That's an inheritance coming from the last administration and Joe Biden just -- Joe Biden got -- he inherited four simultaneous crises and I think he's done as well as any human being could do. And I do welcome this lower key approach for a while in the presidency. I think it suits him well and I think it suits the country well.

CABRERA: It gives us all a chance to take a deep breath, which has been hard to do over the past four years. I mean, remember Trump's first Super Bowl interview? That was when he made the big uproar over questions about Putin and he said, oh, you think America is so innocent? I mean, talk about contrast in tone, right?

David Gergen, as always, thank you so much, sir.

GERGEN: Ana, so good to see you again.

CABRERA: You too.

Coming up, you've heard of the more contagious variant that was first identified in the U.K. Well, now, a new study has found it is spreading rapidly here in the United States. What does that mean for the fight against the pandemic? That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00] CABRERA: Breaking news on the coronavirus pandemic. A new study suggesting the variant first identified in the U.K. is now spreading rapidly throughout the U.S. The study estimates U.S. cases of this variant may be doubling every week-and-a-half. All this comes as the pressure is mounting across the U.S. to reopen more schools for in- person learning.

And this hour, we are following developments on a potential return date for students and teachers in one of the nation's largest school districts.

CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro is joining us. Evan, what details are you learning about the Chicago public school situation?

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, as you say, this is a breaking story today and it's been changing back and forth throughout the day. To set the stage real quick, for weeks, leaders of the Chicago public schools union and leaders of Chicago, the city, have been at odds over reopening classrooms to students.

The leadership of the city say that it's safe to go back into classrooms, put teachers and students back in there. The teachers' union says it's not safe and the two have been at loggerheads about that for a long, long time.

That appeared to come to an end today when Mayor Lori Lightfoot stepped to the microphones and gave this remark at a press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO, IL: At long last, CPS has finally reached a tentative agreement with the Chicago Teachers' Union that opens up the school doors for safe in-person learning for our pre-K cluster and K through 8 students.

But I also want to thank the teachers. I know many of you have worked harder this year than you've ever worked before because that's what the circumstances demanded for you to manifest your love and commitment to your students.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So it sounds like a deal. Everyone is at the same page now. Everyone is going to move forward. Kids are going to go back to school.

Well, not so fast. Because just as she was saying, the Chicago Teachers' Union tweeted out a notice saying, hey, we actually haven't made a deal yet. We have to go through our rigorous process of looking into that deal and looking into the offer made by the city and go through all of the different steps that it takes to make that happen.

So we don't actually know at this hour whether or not there is a deal and we won't know for sure what the details of whatever it is that are happening until probably tomorrow. But there are signs that maybe these far apart groups are coming together to maybe get schools back open, Ana.

CABRERA: Oh my gosh, that's got to be so maddening for parents, especially in that area.

Evan, what about the public schools in San Francisco, because that's another one that's been kind of a mess?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Yes, that's right. That's another area where the city and the schools were at odds. And in San Francisco, the city actually sued its own school district to try to force the schools back open, another one of these situations where people just couldn't get along.

Now, eventually, coming -- today, we learned there's a deal between the unions, everything, teachers and staff at schools there and the city, that reopens classrooms to students basically along these guidelines. In areas where community spread is higher, teachers will be made -- given the vaccine -- or made -- will be made available to them, they can take it if they want it, and then the kids go back to school. And in areas where transmission is lower, teachers will just go back into the classroom. That's keeping with science that shows that schools are basically reflective of the community spread around them.

So that deal now is now -- it looks like it appears to be in place but they're still waiting on one more official vote about that deal in about ten days there in San Francisco, so students in San Francisco will be prepared to go back to school but not for a few more days. Ana?

CABRERA: OK. It is all very complicated and we're learning a lot more about the virus every day. Evan McMorris-Santoro, thanks for staying on top of it for us.

A realtor, a flower shop owner, a gym owner, up next, a look at the women who have been arrested for their alleged role in storming the Capitol.

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[18:20:00]

CABRERA: We're learning more about the women who were drawn into the deadly insurrection at the Capitol. CNN's Tom Foreman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the madness of the riot, as violence erupted, Gracyn Courtright posed for her Instagram feed. The college student from Kentucky beaming, can't wait to tell my grandkids I was here. While Jenny Cudd, a flower shop owner from Texas, who is expected to plead not guilty, admits she went exploring.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did break down Nancy Pelosi's office door and somebody stole her gavel.

FOREMAN: Arrest records list more than 20 women charged in the uproar, and that's no surprise for Seyward Darby.

SEYWARD DARBY, AUTHOR, SISTERS IN HATE: They're being told, you are the revolution. You are the radicals.

FOREMAN: She's written about women in extremist movements and says many embrace a very conservative view of life.

DARBY: Women are being appealed to by being told, you know, you are mothers. You are, you know, the protectors of your home, of your family. And now is the time to stand up and fight for that.

[18:25:00]

FOREMAN: Among those charged, Christine Priola, a mother and former school therapist from Ohio, Dawn Bancroft, a gym owner who prosecutors say posted a video claiming she was looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain. CNN has reached out for comment, no response.

Authorities say there was a salon owner, a corrections officer, the woman shot and killed, an Air Force veteran, and Jenna Ryan, a realtor and radio host from Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went to serve my country because our president, President Donald Trump, asked us to go to the march.

FOREMAN: A Christian fundraising site is being used to help with what her lawyer says will be a not guilty plea. Jenna is not a terrorist but a freedom-loving patriot who needs your help. Her legal bills are expected to be $50,000.

But how did they all allegedly wind up here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tens of thousands of women are already at work in aircraft.

FOREMAN: Just as the government asked women to pitch in during World War II by appealing to them as mothers and community members, experts say movements like QAnon are doing the same now, telling women the nation needs them to stand up amid political warfare and a raging pandemic no matter how dishonest that recruitment may be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That was Tom Foreman reporting.

Thank you for being with me. I'm Ana Cabrera. Up next, it is back-to- back episodes of the CNN original series, "FIRST LADIES."

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